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1Though now the middle of December, there had yet been no weather to prevent the young ladies from tolerably regular
2exercise; and on the morrow, Emma had a charitable visit to pay to a poor sick family, who lived a little way out of
3Highbury. Their road to this detached cottage was down Vicarage Lane, a lane leading at right angles from the broad,
4though irregular, main street of the place; and, as may be inferred, containing the blessed abode of Mr. Elton. A few
5inferior dwellings were first to be passed, and then, about a quarter of a mile down the lane rose the Vicarage, an old
6and not very good house, almost as close to the road as it could be. It had no advantage of situation; but had been very
7much smartened up by the present proprietor; and, such as it was, there could be no possibility of the two friends
8passing it without a slackened pace and observing eyes.--Emma's remark was-- "There it is. There go you and your
9riddle-book one of these days."--Harriet's was-- "Oh, what a sweet house!--How very beautiful!--There are the yellow
10curtains that Miss Nash admires so much." "I do not often walk this way now," said Emma, as they proceeded, "but then
11there will be an inducement, and I shall gradually get intimately acquainted with all the hedges, gates, pools and
12pollards of this part of Highbury." Harriet, she found, had never in her life been inside the Vicarage, and her
13curiosity to see it was so extreme, that, considering exteriors and probabilities, Emma could only class it, as a proof
14of love, with Mr. Elton's seeing ready wit in her. "I wish we could contrive it," said she; "but I cannot think of any
15tolerable pretence for going in;--no servant that I want to inquire about of his housekeeper--no message from my
16father." She pondered, but could think of nothing. After a mutual silence of some minutes, Harriet thus began again-- "I
17do so wonder, Miss Woodhouse, that you should not be married, or going to be married! so charming as you are!"-- Emma
18laughed, and replied, "My being charming, Harriet, is not quite enough to induce me to marry; I must find other people
19charming--one other person at least. And I am not only, not going to be married, at present, but have very little
20intention of ever marrying at all." "Ah!--so you say; but I cannot believe it." "I must see somebody very superior to
21any one I have seen yet, to be tempted; Mr. Elton, you know, (recollecting herself,) is out of the question: and I do
22not wish to see any such person. I would rather not be tempted. I cannot really change for the better. If I were to
23marry, I must expect to repent it." "Dear me!--it is so odd to hear a woman talk so!"-- "I have none of the usual
24inducements of women to marry. Were I to fall in love, indeed, it would be a different thing! but I never have been in
25love; it is not my way, or my nature; and I do not think I ever shall. And, without love, I am sure I should be a fool
26to change such a situation as mine. Fortune I do not want; employment I do not want; consequence I do not want: I
27believe few married women are half as much mistress of their husband's house as I am of Hartfield; and never, never
28could I expect to be so truly beloved and important; so always first and always right in any man's eyes as I am in my
29father's." "But then, to be an old maid at last, like Miss Bates!" "That is as formidable an image as you could present,
30Harriet; and if I thought I should ever be like Miss Bates! so silly--so satisfied--so smiling--so prosing--so
31undistinguishing and unfastidious--and so apt to tell every thing relative to every body about me, I would marry
32to-morrow. But between us, I am convinced there never can be any likeness, except in being unmarried." "But still, you
33will be an old maid! and that's so dreadful!" "Never mind, Harriet, I shall not be a poor old maid; and it is poverty
34only which makes celibacy contemptible to a generous public! A single woman, with a very narrow income, must be a
35ridiculous, disagreeable old maid! the proper sport of boys and girls, but a single woman, of good fortune, is always
36respectable, and may be as sensible and pleasant as any body else. And the distinction is not quite so much against the
37candour and common sense of the world as appears at first; for a very narrow income has a tendency to contract the mind,
38and sour the temper. Those who can barely live, and who live perforce in a very small, and generally very inferior,
39society, may well be illiberal and cross. This does not apply, however, to Miss Bates; she is only too good natured and
40too silly to suit me; but, in general, she is very much to the taste of every body, though single and though poor.
41Poverty certainly has not contracted her mind: I really believe, if she had only a shilling in the world, she would be
42very likely to give away sixpence of it; and nobody is afraid of her: that is a great charm." "Dear me! but what shall
43you do? how shall you employ yourself when you grow old?" "If I know myself, Harriet, mine is an active, busy mind, with
44a great many independent resources; and I do not perceive why I should be more in want of employment at forty or fifty
45than one-and-twenty. Woman's usual occupations of hand and mind will be as open to me then as they are now; or with no
46important variation. If I draw less, I shall read more; if I give up music, I shall take to carpet-work. And as for
47objects of interest, objects for the affections, which is in truth the great point of inferiority, the want of which is
48really the great evil to be avoided in not marrying, I shall be very well off, with all the children of a sister I love
49so much, to care about. There will be enough of them, in all probability, to supply every sort of sensation that
50declining life can need. There will be enough for every hope and every fear; and though my attachment to none can equal
51that of a parent, it suits my ideas of comfort better than what is warmer and blinder. My nephews and nieces!--I shall
52often have a niece with me." "Do you know Miss Bates's niece? That is, I know you must have seen her a hundred
53times--but are you acquainted?" "Oh! yes; we are always forced to be acquainted whenever she comes to Highbury. By the
54bye, that is almost enough to put one out of conceit with a niece. Heaven forbid! at least, that I should ever bore
55people half so much about all the Knightleys together, as she does about Jane Fairfax. One is sick of the very name of
56Jane Fairfax. Every letter from her is read forty times over; her compliments to all friends go round and round again;
57and if she does but send her aunt the pattern of a stomacher, or knit a pair of garters for her grandmother, one hears
58of nothing else for a month. I wish Jane Fairfax very well; but she tires me to death." They were now approaching the
59cottage, and all idle topics were superseded. Emma was very compassionate; and the distresses of the poor were as sure
60of relief from her personal attention and kindness, her counsel and her patience, as from her purse. She understood
61their ways, could allow for their ignorance and their temptations, had no romantic expectations of extraordinary virtue
62from those for whom education had done so little; entered into their troubles with ready sympathy, and always gave her
63assistance with as much intelligence as good-will. In the present instance, it was sickness and poverty together which
64she came to visit; and after remaining there as long as she could give comfort or advice, she quitted the cottage with
65such an impression of the scene as made her say to Harriet, as they walked away, "These are the sights, Harriet, to do
66one good. How trifling they make every thing else appear!--I feel now as if I could think of nothing but these poor
67creatures all the rest of the day; and yet, who can say how soon it may all vanish from my mind?" "Very true," said
68Harriet. "Poor creatures! one can think of nothing else."
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